Indicator for piano-keyboards.



IND

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 23, I9I4.

G. FOWLER.

ICATOR FOR PIANO KEYBOARDS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A Aki E Geova j'aurler G. FOWLER.

INDICATOR FOR PIANO KEYBOARDS.

APPLICATION F|LED 1AN.23.1914.

1, 1 37,394. Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V l "Www-- 2 I a 5 Hwa/ian. C'emye Fou/Ze?" GEQRGE FDWLER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN SYITANIA.

INDICATOR FOR PIANO-KEYBOARDS.

Specification oi' Letters Patent.

Patented Apr'. 27, i915..

Application led January 23, 1914. Serial No. 813,822.

To all whom 'it may concern .Be it known that I, GEORGE FOWLER, a

*ment which can be utilized in connection with a toy piano and by slight modification with a, full sized piano, and will serve to yteach a beginner the location of the keys,

their location by letters both in the treble and bass clef and alsol indicate the proper finger f or not the exercises so that the pupil can, by watching the attachment, see at a glance the letter 1ndicating the key struck, and also tell whether ko 1. i

ik further object is to provide in an attachment ot the character stated, movable devices which are controlled by the keys to indicate at openings, letters corresponding to the keys.

A further object is to provide an attachment of this character which can be manuactured and sold at a reasonably low price, which will not disfigure the piano, and which will in a sense operate as an automatic teacher to instruct beginners, familiarizing them with the rudiments of music in an attractive and entertaining manner.

- 'W ith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features oli construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

in the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a view in elevation illustrating my iin-j provements in connection with a toy piano showing the hinged leal l0 in its lowered position. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the upper portion of the toy piano shown in Fig. l showing the leaf in its upper position.' Fig. 3 is a view in vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. i. Fig. t is a fragmentary view in horizontal longitudinal section on the line l-i of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in rear elevation of one end or my improved. attachment. Fig. 6 illustrates in elevation two of the plungers 5. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view proper linger is used to strike the in front elevation illustrating my improvements modified for attachment to an ordinary full sized piano. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7l showing the attachment in full linesJ and the-piano structurein dotted lines. Fig.v 9 1s a view similar to Fig. 8 on the line ,9-9 of Fig. 7.

Referring particularly to Figs. i, 2, 3, d, 5 and 6, l represents the case of a toy piano having the ordinary pivoted keys 2 operating strikers '3 to engage metal sounding bars -t as is common in toys of this kind. To the front of the case l, above the keys 2, my imt proved attachment is located and consists of a plate 6 secured in any approved manner,

and having on its rear face a longitudinal series or" plungers 5 mounted to move in recesses 7 in gundel bars 8 secured to the back of the plate and having blocks of telt 9 on their lower ends to contact with the keys upon which.l they rest.

@n the front of plate 6, a leaf l0 is connected by hinges 1l. This leaf itis or a dimension to cover approximately one halt oi the plate, and is adapted to be located in its lower position as shown in Fig. i, or in its upper position as shown in Fig. 2, said leaf being held in the latter position by means ot a turn button l2 or other suitable device.

Flate 6 on its outer face is ruled and printed to indicate two parallel stads i3 and le, the upper stati3 13 indicating the treble clef and the lower stadl ifi thebass clef, saiddeaf l0 adapted to cover one or the other of these statls.

Above and below the stasiledger lines i6 are indicated, and said stails are divided by vertical lines i5 which correspond with the spaces between the keys 2. lin each ot' the spaces between the lines l5 an opening i7 is provided in the plate 6, and back of these openings, the plungers 5 are located, and on the iront oi said plungers, letters are printed normally outof register with the openings and moved into register'with the openings when the keys are operated as will be more Jfully hereinafter explained.

@n the'plate 6, at the ends of the staii's,V

two vertical columns of letters are provided in horizontal alinement with the lines and ably print the letters on the plungers in accordance with the coloring of the letters at the ends of the stalfs. For example, if the letters indicating the lines are black, and the letters indicating the spaces are red, the letters on the plungers which show at the lines Will be black, and the letters on the plungers which .show at the spaces will be red, so that the beginner quickly and almost unconsciously detects errors in exercises by this simple choice of differently coloring the letters for lines and spaces.

By reference particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the leaf 10 contains'on both sides of the representation of a hand with numerals indicating the thumb and fingers of the hand. rIhe openings 17 are numbered in accordance with the proper fingering of theinstrument. For example, where the numeral 1-appears, this key should be struck by the thumb; where the numeral 2 appears the key should be struck by the foreiinger, and so on throughout the fingers of the hand. rIhe beginner knows by a glance at the plate just what finger should be used to strike the key, and as soon as the key is struck, at the opening 17 the letter will appear indicating the letter designating the line or space. The beginner therefore quickly learns to properly linger the keys, and also quickly learns the scale by letter.

As the bass clef diifers from the treble clef, it is necessary to provide a separate staff which in the form illustrated in Figs. l to 6 inclusive is on the same plate 6 as the treble clef, but on the lower portion of the plate, so that when the leaf 10 is in its lowered position, this bass clef is hid. To reveal the same, it is necessary to swing the leaf on its hinges and lock it in its upper position as shown in Fig. 2.

The bass clef is precisely like the treble clef structurally, and only in the lettering is there a dierence. The right hand is always used for practising the treble clef, while the left hand is used for practising the bass clef, hence the characters on the opposite sides of the leaf 10 will indicate the right and left hand, and the instructions will be precisely the same with the exception that one is for a left handexercise and the other for a right. l

In operation when a key 2 is struck, the plunger 5 resting thereon Will be elevated, so that the letter will show at the opening 17, and as soon as the key is permitted to rise,

, the plunger will fall and show a blank space at the opening.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9, I illustrate my improvements in connection with a full sized piano, and in constructing the same for this purpose, I provide a plate 18 of a length to contain both the treble and bass clefs. One plunger, namely, the one midwaybetween the ends of the plate, is adapted to indicate a letter in both the treble and bass clefs, but each of the other plungers will indicate but a single letter. Another difference between the construction illustrated in Figs. `7, 8, and 9, and that in the other figures is the fact that the plungers move downwardly when the keys are depressed and not upwardly as in the construction first described. rIhis is due simply to the fact that in the toy piano the key fulcrum is nearer the front end of the key than in the full sized instrument.

rllhe plate 18 may, of course, be supported in various ways. I have illustrated a simple support therefor consisting of feet 19 which at their inner'ends have upwardly projecting pins 20 projecting into sockets 2l in blocks 22 secured to the back of the plate adjacent the ends thereof. 'Ihese blocks 19 rest upon keys which are not used in the exercise, and may be turned in parallelism with the plate when the attachment is removed so as to occupy but relatively small space. l

.While I havedescribed my improvements in connection with a piano, it is of course to be understood that it may be used with any instrument having keys of the ordinary type.

Various other slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement of parts described without departing froml my invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise details set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall Within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

' I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Ietf ters Patent is: Y

l. An indicator for piano key boards, comprising' a plate having a sta thereon with openings in the plate on the lines and spaces of the staff, parallel horizontally positioned longitudinal bars secured yto the back of the plate, spaced apart and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the plate, v said bars havingl alined recesses in their edges adjacent the plate, vertical plungers fitting the alined recesses and guided in their vertical movement by said recesses, said plungers at their lower ends supported upon the keys of a piano, and plateslsecured to the forward faces of the plungers and having characters thereon movable into register with the openings, substantially as described. j

2. An indicator for piano keyboards, comprising aplate having parallel staffs thereon, each staf havin a longitudinal series of openings, an opening being provided for each line and space, vertical plungers back of the plate having letters movable into regpositioned leaf hinged to the plate between 11a-amaca described."

3. An indicator for piano keyboards, comprising a plate having parallel stads thereon, each stal having a longitudinal series of openings, an opeiung` being provided for each line and space, vertical plungers back lof the plate having letters movable into register with the openings, and a longitudinally positioned leaf hinged to the plate between' the two stads and adapted to be positioned so as to cover either staff, said openings indicated by numerals, and said leaf having onl opposite sides the representation of the 15 right and left hand respectively with the thumb and fingers indicated by numerals,` substantially as described. Y

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing witnesses. L l escasa rosa.

Witnesses:

M. E. vDrrrus, CHAs. E. PoT'rs. 

